


We'll meet in the stars

by reveetoile



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Doctor who, Fantasy, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-09-16 20:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9288914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reveetoile/pseuds/reveetoile
Summary: Nino works as a barista at a coffee shop and is mostly bored with his life. But he gets to know Ohno there and falls a little bit in love with him. When he tries to contact him, privately things begin to go amiss. When he, later on, meets Jun - an alien that travels through space - and discovers that Ohno travels through space, too, things are starting to get a little more interesting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The idea came from watching too much Doctor Who last year... So the travelling through space fighting aliens etc. kinda came from that, but it's different from the original work even if there might be parallels.

“Good morning, sir. What can I get for you?” Nino asked with a bored voice and staged smile. He didn’t even look up when the new customer appeared in front of him. Nino only glanced up when silence greeted him for a few more minutes and frowned at the seemingly asleep, small man. “Sir, your order, please?” he repeated and tried hard not to sound irritated. There was already a line forming, and he hated to deal with the morning rush as it was. It got only worse when somebody needed to long to order.

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot what to order for a moment here: It’s a Hazelnut Latte with four espresso shots, soy milk and whipped cream, medium, please,” Ohno recited with a concentrated look on his face. Nino blinked once or twice at that order. Who in their right mind would even order something like that? He thought but it wasn’t his place to judge, Nino knew that.

“Soy milk and whipped cream? Our whipped cream isn’t on soy basis, though. I’m sorry about that.”

Ohno nodded. “I know. It’s fine,” he answered, and Nino nodded before ringing the drink in.

“To drink here or to take away?”

“Take away.”

“Your name is?”

“Satoshi,” he smiled brightly, and Nino nodded before telling him the price and asking the next customer in line for their order when that strange man left the place in front of the register to wait at the counter.

  
Ohno came the next week, and the week after, and after that again. And he ordered the same ridiculous thing each time he visited. Because of that Nino had an easy time to remember the man. Even if his bright - a little proud - smile each time the order was out successfully helped, too.

After two months he looked forward to seeing Ohno for those few minutes each week. Nino didn’t know when he first started to notice little things about the other, or to spend the short amount of time it took them to prepare the drinks for their customers to look at him instead of concentrating on the following customers coming in.

Ohno wore a coat that was a little too big each time and there were stains of different colours on it. Once or twice Nino even spotted a little paint in that fluffy looking hair. He looked mostly really sleepy and if he would rather be sleeping than here. But whenever he was ordering his coffee, he was smiling so brightly. It was endearing.

Nino liked Those smiles. They were gentle and seemed to brighten up his mornings a little bit each time.

Nino would like Ohno even more if he wouldn’t order the same ridiculous thing every time he came by. It was one of the more complicated things someone could order (mostly because they didn’t have that on the menu).

And regardless what Nino said to him he wouldn’t change his order one bit. He could recommend whatever he wanted Ohno would listen to him, smile and nod and then when asked to order what he wished he would order his damn Hazelnut Latte with four espresso shots, soy milk and whipped cream. The man would even say medium each time he requested.

“Medium doesn’t exist, you know? We call them great, big and enormous,” he explained, and Ohno blinked a little confused at those words.

“But they are in different sizes, so the one in the middle has to be a medium,” Ohno insisted, and Nino shrugged.

“Sure, but it’s called big. I won’t serve you the next time if you call it medium again,” Nino threatened, and Ohno pursed his lips in a big pout. Nino had to hold himself big as to not say anything about that. Ohno was charming like that. Nino wanted to pinch his cheeks right now, but he had to hold himself back almost physically.

Ohno called it medium the next time again. Nino wasn’t even surprised. Sometimes Nino wasn’t sure if Ohno understood Japanese or if he was very good at pretending.  
Despite his threat Nino continued to serve him that silly coffee with a bit of mockery which didn’t deter Ohno in the least.

It seemed only natural that by the fourth month Nino had begun to call Ohno Oh-chan instead of anything formal. The first time that happened Nino got nervous because of the deep frown that was on Ohno’s face instead of the usual smile. But shortly after his whole face seemed to smile and Nino thought it was okay.

“Fuck!” Nino swore. He was late today. He knew he was entirely at fault here. After all, he had stayed up until very late playing his newest game and then forgotten to put his phone far away so that he wouldn’t put off the alarm half asleep.

Of course, that hadn’t happened, and so he was almost late for his shift. And he hated being late and being lectured more than anything. And being late meant getting less money which was important for Nino as well. So he donned his apron and groaned when he realised that they got new name tags as well. He still hat to write his name on that one.

Grumbling he took out a chalk pen and wrote NINO in big letters on it instead of his complete name in Kanji and was able to slip behind the register just in time.

“Good morning!” Ohno greeted happily and peered down at him. Nino felt a bit insecure because he knew he looked horrible sleep deprived with terrible bed hair but Ohno looking at him made him forget that quickly. Ohno peered down at his name tag - Nino had already realised that Ohno seemed to see all small changes, so he wasn’t that surprised.

“Nino huh?” he mumbled almost inaudible, and Nino wanted to retort something witty, but he couldn’t think of anything. “It’s cute,” he added and then even more quietly, “as you”, just as he turned around to get his order.

Nino felt his cheeks heat up. He had fallen deep, he realised, and luckily nobody seemed to realise that he kept his nametag as it was from this day on.

 


	2. Chapter 2

As the weeks passed, Nino felt more than a little pathetic for not bringing up the courage to ask Ohno out for a date. To be honest, he would have been happy already with giving him his number. Nino was sure Ohno liked him back, but their only conversations were about sizes of the drinks and Nino proposing new beverages to Ohno which Ohno still ignored. Nino was sure that he would be able to make him nicer drinks than the one he always ordered.

It had become that pathetic that even his coworkers would try to encourage him to get on with it. It was getting annoying more than amusing now.

“Nino, can you please prepare the orders today?” Yuu asked sweetly, and Nino glared at him. Not only wouldn’t he be able to talk to Ohno but he would also have more work to do. But he didn’t protest because he knew that it was Yuu’s way to make sure that Nino would be able to write his number on a cup.

Nino cringed about how cliché that was. He wished he was more superior in handling his ridiculous crush. Nino hated himself a little bit at that thought.

“Yes,” he mumbled unhappily with a sigh as he prepared his workspace. He watched the customers, and his heart jumped when he recognised Ohno in the entrance of the coffee shop. He felt his heart rate sped up when he made his way over with a confused look on his face.

Nino watched as Ohno made his order and nibbled on his lower lip. Today he would do it! Today Nino would write his number down for Ohno and give the cup to him, he was sure of it. 

To be honest, he had already prepared a cup shortly after he went to his workspace and had been careful not to give it to anyone else accidentally. That would have been even more embarrassing.

Nino took the cup and made the well-known order carefully - not that Ohno would take a sip and decided it was wrong and he threw it away! He went to the counter to put the finished drink down when his eyes fell on Ohno again. Ohno with his sleepy but oh so adorable smile and tattered coat. He felt his breathe hitch at that and couldn’t help himself.

He staged a stumble and let the cup fall out of his grip in a feeble attempt not to slip and crack his head open on the counter.

“Shit! I’m sorry,” he said fast and swooped down to clean the spill and to throw the cup away. Yuu looked at him a little funnily as he usually wasn’t that clumsy and he tried very hard not to blush when he heard a little chuckle coming from Ohno.

“I’ll do it again. I’m sorry,” Nino said once more and felt sorry mostly for himself and the way he acted so childishly.

Nino sighed nearly mutely and redid the drink feeling sad and mad at himself. He carefully put it on the counter and smiled at Ohno.

“Here you go. I’m sorry for what happened and that you had to wait longer. I’ll give you a coupon so that your next drink will be for free,” Nino mumbled.

Ohno shook his head at those words and grinned happily. “It’s okay. Thanks for the drink,” he said suddenly grabbing Nino’s hand.

Nino gasped a little shocked, and Ohno looked sheepishly at him while he took a napkin to wipe at Nino’s arm. “You got a little cream there. I didn’t want to scare you,” he explained and thrust the napkin into his hand. “Be more careful from now on. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Nino nodded with blushing cheeks and grabbed the napkin for a moment, before turning to the trashcan to throw it away. But he saw something black scribbled on it and put it into his apron instead. Nino wished he could look at it now as he was just so curious about what was on it. But because of his little stunt, the line was longer than expected and he had to hurry up to finish all the orders without everybody getting mad at him.

So it was later than usual when he was finally able to take a quick break. Usually, he would use that time to eat something and smoke. But now he was more curious about the napkin. Carefully he opened it and sighed almost disappointed when he realised that it got wet, and the characters were very blurred, but he was able to read it with some difficulty.

**‘Nino,  
I decided not to wait any longer. I’m worried you’ll hurt yourself. Here are my contact details.   
Ohno Satoshi. **

**Call me whenever you want. I’m waiting for you <3.'**

Nino’s cheeks got hot again while reading the little note again and again. He played with his cell phone nervously while he tried to decide if he should answer Ohno right now or if Nino should do it this evening when he was all alone and had more time than approximately five minutes. Nino looked at the note again and began typing slowly when his colleague looked inside their break room.

“Sorry, Nino, but you have to end your break right now. We are run over out here.”

“Coming!” he answered quickly and shoved the letter and his phone back into his locker.

Late in the evening, Nino closed the door to his tiny flat groaning tiredly. He rubbed his eyes and stumbled into his living room. Nino fell onto his sofa and looked at the characters of the letter once more. He would never throw it out; he was sure of it. Softly he caressed the little heart. Nino bit his lip nervously while he typed a single lined answer and he would never confess to anyone how often he changed the wording until it seemed to be perfect.

He waited nervously for an answer falling asleep over it. The next morning he checked his mailbox for a reply anxiously.

**‘The number is out of range.’**

Nino frowned and checked the number over again. He did type the right one or at least the only one that seemed to make sense. 

Ohno should have just told him if he wasn’t interested in him, he thought. This joke was just cruel. Nino looked at the slightly blurred characters. Maybe he had misread a number after all and decided to ask Ohno the next day or, at least, ask him why he had given him the wrong number in the first place.

Nino arrived at work early the next day to be able to meet Ohno. In the last weeks, Ohno began to come daily and not only once a week as he did before. But Ohno didn’t come that day or the next or the day after that. 

Ohno didn’t even come a week later on the day he visited beforehand. And after a month, his disappointment about not meeting him anymore ceased, and he began to accept that he wouldn’t see Ohno anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's meet Aiba, shall we?

Ohno was on his way to the little bakery where he worked humming happily under his breath while he took a sip of his coffee now and then. It was delicious, just as Momo had told him the first time he saw her sipping the drink. And Ohno swore today it tasted even better since Nino made the coffee and Ohno had been able to give him his number. He hoped that the little barista would call him.

He took a shortcut through the park when he heard a loud bang followed by a shout to run right behind him. He turned around to look at the ruckus and blinked when a man appeared - seemingly out of nowhere wearing a bright green jacket, trousers that only reached the middle of his calves and suspenders. The stranger gripped his hand and grinned brightly.

“We should get out of here!” he shouted once more sounding happier than should have been allowed at this situation, and Ohno blinked confusedly at him and back again when another bang could be heard, and the earth began to shook slightly.

“Come on now!” He felt a tug and started to run after the other. It seemed to be the most logical thing right now.

 

“Who are you?” he asked curiously when they stopped at a little fountain to catch their breath. The man took his cup - Ohno didn’t even know how he was able to hold onto it - and took a big sip of it.

“Ah, delicious… And exactly what I needed. Ah! I’m sorry. I am Aiba.”  
Aiba held out his hand, and Ohno looked at it for a moment before he reluctantly shook it.

“And why were we running?”

“Because running is what keeps you alive,” Aiba explained and threw his arm over Ohno’s shoulder.

“You see, I ran into a little problem. And I think I need help to resolve it.” Ohno nodded dumbfounded.

“I can show you the way to the police station. You can ask there for help.”

“That’s the problem, you see. It’s nothing where the police could give me a hand,” Aiba told him sheepishly and tugged him along to seemingly nothing. He tapped against air, and the next time Ohno blinked he was faced with a strange looking tree, with an open door.

“Let’s get inside, and I’ll tell you more,” he said and shoved Ohno inside in excitement completely ignoring his protests.

“It’s a time machine and a spaceship. I travel in it. I call it SS Chipmunk!” He looked at Ohno expectantly, and Ohno nodded slowly.

“Okay. And your problem is?” Ohno asked and watched the man going in circles around what seemed like a control pad. He took out his phone to call the police if needed.

“I was chasing a _rokubi_. That’s a monster. It’s what you would call an alien or demon. It looks like a woman or man or whatever is needed to lure their victims to their bed to suck their life out of them. I was chasing it. You see, I stumbled across it on my way to another planet and followed it to earth. I lost it when I stumbled upon a crawl, and now I have to find it again!”

Ohno nodded once more; he didn’t think he could do anything else or even follow this Aiba but something killing innocent people was indeed dangerous. So yeah, he understood his problem.

 

“And how can I help you?” he asked and looked at his phone once more still undecided if he should call the police or not. They probably would be of a lot more help than he was. He had no experience in chasing murderers.

“I can track it back, I think, but I need help to catch it and bring it back to its planet. So it would be great if you could accompany me? You seem to be able to handle supernatural sightings. At least you didn’t flip out yet. You seem to be surprisingly calm.”

Ohno nodded at those words. At least, his grandparents were great at sensing ghosts and had told him that he was like them. And if nothing else will come out of it, he would, at least, have something to narrate Nino if he called later which would be good. Ohno was terrible with talking in general.

“I’ll do it.”

Aiba clasped his shoulder happily and returned to the control board at the centre of the room to type furiously while mumbling some incoherent words under his breath.

 

Ohno looked around the ship and tried to remember all of it to draw it later when he got home. Then he had, at least, something to prove his story to Nino.

“Found it! Let’s go and be careful, yeah?” Aiba asked him, and he agreed. They left the ship, and Ohno had to take a step back when he realised they weren’t at the park anymore but in a little alley facing the wall in which he had almost ran.

“Sorry, I should have checked first,” Aiba mumbled as he squeezed himself between the wall and the ship to the other side of the alley so that they could walk more freely.

Ohno followed the man slowly looking in awe at the ship that seemed to be able to travel to other locations in the blink of an eye. At the end of the alley, Aiba stopped him and pulled out a little device with many blinking lights. He observed it for a moment and looked back at Ohno.

“This way. We have to be close now.”

They went a bit further before they stopped in front of a door and Aiba fiddled with something for a few minutes before the door swung open silently. “How did you do that?” Ohno asked, and Aiba grinned.

“It’s a secret… Let’s just say it’s handy whenever you lose your keys.”

Ohno nodded a little disappointed at the lack of explanation and followed him mutely. He coughed a little at the mouldy smell that greeted them and searched for the wall to hold himself steady. He listened to the sounds of Aiba’s footsteps and blinked when the light went on.

The room looked as old as the smell had indicated and Ohno looked around unbelieving. “I don’t think anyone lives here anymore,” he began.

“Shh…” Aiba hushed him and opened another door slowly.

 

“Don’t be so shy…” the voice of a woman was heard, and Ohno looked surprised at Aiba who beckoned him over. Ohno peeked into the room and saw a man and a woman sitting beside each other on a sofa. The man seemed a little bit uncomfortable but looked mostly bewitched by the woman beside him.

“We have to distract them first.”

Ohno nodded and waited for more instructions. Aiba watched the room for a moment before he went inside. Ohno gaped at him in surprise and followed as fast as he could. He thought they would do it sneakily and not so upfront.

“I’m sorry, are we disrupting?” Aiba asked cheerfully and sat in between the couple and clapped his hands excitedly. “The backroom was so stuffy, and I thought we could have a little party. We are enough people after all.”

Ohno watched them - his confusion growing more and more the more Aiba seemed to babble away, and Ohno scooted a little bit closer into their direction.

The woman laughed a little forced and stood slowly. “We will need slightly more drinks then. I’ll go get them.”

Aiba stood as well and watched her now fully sober. “No, I don’t think so. You will come with me,” he said evenly.

Ohno came to a stop behind the woman and cried out when the woman changed into a thing with a long neck and hissed at Aiba.

“And then, little time-lord? Will you kill me?”

“I will send you back!”

She laughed and dived to the door. “I don’t think so. Earth has so many delicious men. I will eat them all!”

“No!” Aiba shouted and rushed after her. Ohno gulped as he threw himself bravely - or stupidly - between the door and the woman. He had promised to help Aiba and thinking about the woman killing people if he didn’t stop her was a great persuasion.

He threw himself on top of her and fought to hold her still under him. “Help me!” he called out to Aiba who was beside him just a few seconds later and was doing something with that strange device again.

“Come on… Nothing bad will happen if you go back,” he pressed, and Ohno grunted in pain when he felt sharp nails burying into the flesh of his neck. He felt the blood running over his skin and her fingers and lost his grip on the woman to press his hand against his wound.

The woman - or whatever it was - tried to throw Aiba from herself once more and squirmed under him.

“Shit,” Aiba exclaimed when he lost his balance, and the woman threw herself at Ohno who collided with a wall.

He tried to fight her off while she tried to open his wound even further and latch onto it to probably suck his life out of him. He attempted to fight her off calling out for Aiba to do something. Anything so that he wouldn’t be killed by a berserk alien.

“I don’t have a choice,” Aiba said sadly and stood behind the alien. He mumbled something pressing a button on the device and the woman became still above him.

Ohno looked surprised first at her disfigured still face and then at Aiba’s sad one while the woman fell off of him and became dust beside him. Aiba stood over Ohno and helped him up to his feet. “Are you okay?” he asked, and Ohno shrugged.

“More or less,” he mumbled slowly and was more concerned about Aiba who seemed to be in worse shape than he was.

“I didn’t want to kill her…”

Ohno nodded and looked at the sofa where the man sat before.

Aiba laughed humorlessly and followed his look. “He fled when she changed,” he answered his unasked question yet again and tugged him along, away from the room and outside.

“Let me check on that wound.”

Ohno nodded and followed still in shock about what had happened. Perhaps he shouldn’t tell Nino what happened after all. Nino wouldn’t believe him anyway, and he didn’t want to lose his chance to get to know him better just because Nino thought he was mad.

 

Back in the ship, Aiba was silent while he treated his wound clumsily and Ohno looked around once more.

“Do you travel alone?” he asked curiously. “And what are you? The woman called you a time-lord?”

“I am a not a time-lord. But I’m from Gallifrey.”

“But you look just like a human!”

Aiba giggled a little, now looking decidedly happier and grinned widely. “I would say you look like a Gallifreyan, but I will go with your words,” he said and winked at him.

“And you travel alone?”

“Yes. But I visit home regularly. It’s a beautiful planet. You should come and see it some time,” Aiba added, and Ohno frowned.

“I don’t think I can. But it seems nice to be able to see a lot of things,” he travelled off and looked around once more.

“It is… Do you want to come with me?” he asked, and Ohno looked a little bit confused.

“Me?”

“Yes. I promise most of the time you won’t get hurt.”

Ohno smiled and shook his head. “I can’t. I want to live my life here. Not alone in time and space.”

“But you can come back every time you want. Nobody would realise you are gone as this is a time machine. We can travel for days, and I can bring you back to the time we left the park.”

“But I would grow older each time. It would be suspicious”, Ohno explained, and Aiba nodded after a moment of silence.

“I guess. It’s not the same, huh?”

Ohno shook his head and smiled apologetically.

“No. But thank you for the offer.”

Aiba nodded and went back to the controls in the centre. “I guess it’s goodbye then. Thanks for your help again,” he mumbled, and Ohno nodded before standing up to leave.

 

Just as he stepped outside, Ohno realised that he had forgotten his jacket - with his phone still in the pocket. He needed that if he wanted to talk with Nino! Nino who was also the reason why he couldn’t travel with Aiba so easily.

Ohno stepped back into the ship again. He looked around for a moment finding his jacket on the railing where Aiba put it to be able to check on his wounds and went to retrieve it when the ship shook. 

The jacket fell, and Ohno swore silently. He tried not to disturb Aiba who seemed to be typing the panels and went down a ladder to search for his jacket. He couldn’t believe how big this thing was.

Once arriving at the foot of the ladder, he picked up his jacket and searched for his phone that wasn’t in the pocket anymore. Ohno looked around panicky for it.

“No…” he cried out silently when the phone slipped into a blinking pipe in the middle of the room and ran to it. He fell to his knees trying to retrieve it but hissed when his hands came in contact with the burning hot light emitting from it.

He mourned the loss of his precious phone and didn’t realise the ship starting to leave this planet just like Aiba explained earlier.

He went up again exiting through the door when he realised he couldn’t open it anymore.

“Aiba? I want to leave please.”

“Eh?! But I thought you already left?” Aiba exclaimed, and Ohno blinked.

“What?”

“Ah, sorry… We left. But don’t worry I just have to change the coordinates again to get you back. Sorry, sorry.”

Ohno blinked and watched Aiba.

“What?”

“We are in space. Do you want to visit Neptune by any chance?”

“I don’t understand…”

“Wait… Here have a look,” he explained and opened the door after pushing some buttons. Ohno gasped surprised when he saw the millions and billions of stars.

“Wow…”

Aiba closed the door again and went back to the console. Ohno came to stand beside him and pondered over it in silence.

“You are sure you can get me back at the same time and day?” he asked, and Aiba nodded merrily.

“Of course.”

“So… Just once? Can I come with you just once?”

Aiba clapped his hands happily and nodded furiously. “Of course!”


	4. Chapter 4

It had been around two months now that Nino had seen Ohno last. He thought he had gotten used to it. At least, that was what he told himself whenever he looked up the moment someone entered the shop around the time Ohno usually visited. 

Nino missed the other man. He contemplated not for the first time to change his job on his way home after a long and tiring day at work. A sigh escaped Nino's lips as he walked on with his eyes downcast when something felt strange. He tripped and looked around as the dark wet pavement changed.

“What the hell?!” he mumbled and turned around in apparent confusion. Instead of the grey stone and flickering streetlights everywhere he looked, he was greeted by blinking lights and heard strange sounds. Where the hell was he? It looked just like something right out of some sci-fi movies he liked to watch and ultimately not real.

He must have been robbed and blacked out. But even if that sounded like the most logical thing it was a bizarre dream.

 

“You aren’t dreaming. You are on my ship,” a velvet voice said, and Nino turned around once again to look at the man to whom it belonged.

“What are you talking about? And who are you? And if this wasn’t a dream how would you know that I think it is one?”

The man grinned and stepped a little bit closer. “Because your face is like an open book and you looked around like a man not believing he could be seeing what he sees.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

The man rolled his eyes and waltzed to the middle of the room to push some buttons on a panel. The buzzing around them got louder, and Nino frowned when the blinking seems to get faster, too. “You are on my ship, as I said and you will travel with me. Be happy and thankful. Not everybody is allowed to travel with me through time and space.”

Nino began to feel nauseous when the ship or whatever he was on started to shake more and more and glared at the man.

“You call this an opportunity to travel with you? That’s horrendous. You are kidnapping me; that’s what it is! Let me out right now!” he demanded and looked around for a door. When he found it, he walked over to it to pry it open.

“What the hell?!” he shouted shocked and grabbed the door frame so that he wouldn’t fall out the moment it swung open. He could only see a black vast nothing with a few blinking lights here and there - which, he supposed, were probably stars. Regardless of what they exactly were, it wasn’t the street he was on just a few moments ago. Neither did it remind him of anything he knew from home.

“What did you do?” Nino asked still in shock and looked at the man who watched him more than a little amused.

“As I already explained. I brought you on my ship to travel with me or to be more exact she decided you should go with us. I may begin to think that you might be a little slow on the intake or something like that.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m named Jun, and I am a time traveller. At least, I think you can call me that.”

Nino nodded numbly and sat down on the floor. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he mumbled just as the ship jerked again and his hand flew to his mouth to cover it. But it was too late, and Nino threw up right there on the floor. And perhaps he would have laughed at the look of absolute disgust on Jun’s face if he weren’t feeling so damn ill and weird.

 

He had to have blacked out shortly after because the next thing he knew was that he was lying in a bed. It had a warm comfy blanket that covered him. He was also wearing new clothes; he realised thankfully. He rubbed his eyes groaning when the pain behind his forehead seemed to get stronger for a moment before it luckily ebbed away.

He swung his legs over the side and took a deep breath when he realised that he had to be in a bunk bed, at the highest one at that, and looked around trying to work out where he was.

Nino saw a window beside him and changed his position to kneel on the soft mattress and to be able to look out. He saw more of the glittering lights in the dark blue/black sea of nothingness and decided they had to be real stars if what Jun, or whatever the name of this weirdo was, said was the truth.

He watched as the stars went by and he looked at a beautiful multicoloured swarm of something for a while before he decided he needed answers and there was only one way to get them! Nino carefully climbed off his bed and looked around once more before he shrugged and decided to go left. This ship couldn’t be too big, and he had to find Jun eventually.

He wandered through the ship and stopped now and then to listen for any sounds or to look out of one of the many windows that were scattered seemingly at random intervals. He was completely overwhelmed by the view. It was beautiful and calming.

But regardless as to how long he walked everything was eerily silent and he asked himself if Jun was all alone here. How could be one person operate a ship in this size alone? He thought that you would need a crew to be able to. In every movie, he had watched there was a bigger crew and the ships there seemed to be smaller than this.

Nino sighed and looked at his watch only to realise that he had wandered around for more than two hours already and he seemed to be lost entirely. He couldn’t even remember if he had been here before or from which direction he came. Nino groaned in frustration and ruffled his hair. Why didn’t Jun draw him a map or something like that when he had left him in that bedroom? That would have been a lot easier. His fingers traced the pattern on the wall beside him. He felt utterly alone at the moment.

“I wish I would be able to meet Ohno again,” he whispered to the ship and looked out into the stars once more. Even here all his thoughts seem to be about the other man. Nino wanted to ask Ohno why he had to ruin his heart like that and if he was happy that he wasn’t able to forget him even though he tried. But his heart hurt too much each time he thought of letting him go.

 

“Finally, I found you,” Jun said, and he looked up to see the man glaring at him. “Has anybody never told you not to stroll around when you don’t know where you are?”, he asked, and Nino shrugged listlessly.

“They say you get to explore new things if you wander out of your comfort zone or some shit like that,” he answered back, and Jun frowned before he shook his head.

“Whatever. Let’s get back to the control room, and there you can try not to throw up again, will you? It’s not nice to the ship and even less pleasant to clean up after you. Or I might reconsider you travelling with me.”

“I didn’t ask you to kidnap me at all, did I?”

Jun rolled his eyes at those snappy words and walked away leaving Nino to travel behind him wordlessly. Nino sighed and put his fingers on the wall once more while he followed Jun. He didn’t understand why Jun did what he did after all.

“And I won’t get sick if the ship is still,” he mumbled a little embarrassed. He felt better right now, and that was mostly because their flight was very smooth and calm. So he had already forgotten all about that shameful happening. “I get motion sickness. So sorry your highness,” he said a little bit put off, and Jun threw him a side glance before he nodded understandingly.

“Good to know. Then let’s hope she isn’t a sadist then,” he said grinning, and Nino frowned.

“Who?”

“The ship.”

Nino looked at him confused but nodded slowly thinking about how strange everything was.

“When will I get home again? Will I get home gain at all?”

Jun shrugged once more. “Ask her. She can decide how long she will keep you.”

“I’m not a pet!”

“Sure, you are not.”

 

Nino glared at Jun and held onto the railing when the ship shook once more. “Please, not again”, he begged to whoever would listen and paled considerably. Jun hold him steady fast, and they waited till they flew more calmly again.

He sighed in relief and sat down on the floor to look at Jun.

“So what are you hoping to get out of kidnapping me?”

“I didn't. She likes to collect lost souls and to help them.”

“I wasn't lost. I was on my way home from work, just for your information. Oh no!” he gasped and looked at Jun. “Now that you have kidnapped me I won't be able to go to work, and then I'll lose my job, and I won't be able to pay my rent and lose my flat. And it's all your fault! And A’tuin! He will starve. You have to get me back right now!”

“Overdramatic much?” Jun asked scoffingly and looked at him. “I told you this ship could fly through space and time, didn't I? So what didn't you understand about the through time thing? You'll be able to go to work tomorrow because it would be as if you weren't away at all. And who the hell is A’tuin?”

“What?” he asked and blinked confusedly. Jun rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to repeat himself when Nino held up his hand to stop him.

“No. I did understand what you said. Please don't repeat yourself. And to be honest, I don’t care so much about the job, only about my stuff and flat. And even if you promise me I will be back the same moment I left I want to go back right now! I want to get A’tuin. I can’t let him go.”

“I don’t like to repeat my questions: But who is A’tuin? And what kind of name is that?”

“It’s my pet turtle,” Nino answered with a frown and glared at him. “And I want him with me!”

“It won’t starve. It would be as if you weren’t away at all. I won’t go back just because you want a dumb turtle with you.”

“He is not dumb! I have him since I was a child. I got it from my grandfather, and I was never without him ever since, not even a day. I demand you to get him!” Nino glared at him, and Jun swore under his breath. They glared silently at each other till the ship around them shake a little more, and Nino let out a surprised yelp when his turtle materialised in front of him. He took it into his arms and grinned.

“Thank you!” Jun shrugged as he didn’t do anything - most likely the ship was tired of their arguing and thought that was the easiest way to make them stop. Nino was silent for a few minutes, checking A’tuin over to make sure he was okay and pondering over what he heard when he looked up once more.

"Travelling through time… Does that mean I could wish to meet someone again and I will be able to?"

“As long as you don't corrupt your timeline, yes.”

“I won't. So can I choose?” Nino asked, and Jun shrugged.

“You can try to ask for a date and place. But I can’t promise you that we actually will end up there. I mostly let her decide. It’s more interesting that way.”

Nino rolled his eyes and sighed. He didn't know what he should do or think about. It seemed like he was stuck here for a while and couldn't do anything but wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it's okay and not too confusing or something like that. I know that most likely Nino and his turtle wouldn't just more or less appear in the ships. But just bear with me for this chapter, yes? I don't think Nino would go with him voluntarily in the beginning.


	5. Chapter 5

Ohno wandered around SS Chipmunk looking around curiously while Aiba was typing furiously on his pad in front of a big screen.

“How can the inside be so big?” He glanced at him curiously, and Aiba shrugged disinterestedly.

“They were like that since I can remember. It’s Gallifreyan technology, and it’s practical. I’m sure Sho-chan could explain to you how exactly it works. He was far more interested in such knowledge than I was. To be fair, most Gallifreyans are more interested in it than me. I want to see and try things and help people,” Aiba mumbled a bit distracted and sighed. “I should have listened more, though. Sho-chan changed something with the board, and now I don’t know how I can reach him.” He pouted a little and looked at the board once more to push other buttons. 

“Finally,” he cried out when the screen came to live and grinned when after a moment the face of another male came into view.

“Hello, Masaki. I thought you wanted to call yesterday?” The man - most probably Sho-chan - said grinning, and Aiba blinked surprised.

“Wasn’t it today?”

Sho rolled his eyes and shook his head amused. “You should look into your calendar more often, Masaki. I don’t know how you manage to be on time for your appointments.” Ohno smiled to himself at the soft-spoken scolding and shuffled out of the room to give the both of them time for themselves.

 

He hummed softly to himself while he walked around the other rooms of the ship and discovered a bedroom with really comfy looking beds. He thought about taking a nap there before he wandered further to see more. His curiousness was bigger than his sleepiness. About half an hour of walking he was surprised to find himself back in the main room. He blushed a little when he listened to them exchanging words of love and Aiba ending the call, waving to some kids. 

“Who are they?” Ohno asked curiously when Aiba ended the call, and the man grinned.

“My grandchildren. Aren’t they cute?”

“Your grandchildren? You don’t look nearly old enough to have grandchildren.”

Aiba giggled a little and keyed in the coordinates for the promised visit to the water world and leant against the handrail. “I’m 1258 years old. Sho is 1265. We met when we were 50. Wasn’t he cute?” Aiba showed him a picture, and he blinked confusedly.

“That man? He looks entirely different from the one that was on the screen, though. And who is the girl?”

“That’s me,” Aiba giggled. “We live for a long time, and we can regenerate if we die of old-time or mortal wounds. It’s handy.” Ohno nodded numbly and continued looking at the pictures Aiba showed him of his family even if he forgot most of the names directly after. He wouldn’t recognise them most probably either. But it seems like Aiba had a big family and was happy with them.

“But you are travelling alone?” Aiba nodded and Ohno absentmindedly stroke the floor under his fingers. He was surprised that the floor seemed to get warmer at his touch.

“Yes, Sho doesn’t like travelling so much. And he is a writer. He says, at least, one of us should be home to look after the children, and I think he is right. I trained to be a traveller.” Ohno nodded and hummed under his breath in understanding as the ship stopped and he looked curiously at Aiba who grinned at him. “Want to check what awaits us?”

Ohno nodded and stood carefully before he followed Aiba to the door. Aiba opened it and stepped out tugging at Ohno's hand. Ohno grinned a little when he saw the big areas of water in different colours and looked around wide-eyed.

 

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, and Aiba nodded.

“I love being here. I bring Sho sometimes if he agrees to have a holiday,” he explained, and Ohno grinned before he went near a yellow lake. He squatted down to look into it smiling when he saw colourful fishes deep down. He put his finger into it and was surprised when a little fish came to him and caressed its head. It was surprisingly soft. He patted its head one last time, before standing once more and walking from pond to pond. Every lake seemed to have a different species inside of it, and Ohno wished he could fish them. At the same time, he didn’t want to disturb their peace. He looked around to find Aiba and was surprised to see the man in a seeming conversation with some creatures.

“You can talk to them?” Aiba nodded and grinned.

“Yup. I can understand most species. Mostly with the help of SS Chipmunk. You should be able, too, if you try,” he promised, and Ohno nodded surprised and curious. To be able to speak with fishes would be great. Aiba looked at him and over at the pond Ohno was watching and shook his head.

“But you have to stick your head into the water to be able to talk to them. They aren’t able to come above the water. That would be a little bit hard for you as you can’t breathe underwater.” Ohno pouted but nodded when he sat on the ground beside Aiba.

“But you can?”

“Not really. But I can hold my breath for longer than humans can. And I talk mostly to the sea people,” he explained, and Ohno nodded. That made sense in a way. He watched the fishes for a moment more before a new creature came to them. Ohno examined it curiously.

The merman - at least Ohno thought it was one - had a long fishtail in the colours of the rainbow that sparkled whenever light fell onto it. He assumed that they would be only blue-green like the colour of the sea, but as here the lakes were all different colours it seemed to make sense that the scales were as well. The scales went all over his body, even his hands and his face were speckled with them. His eyes were the darkest green Ohno had ever seen, and when he blinked, it seemed like they closed from the side and not from above. His head was hairless, and a fin went from the middle of the head over his neck. He looked foreign but also beautiful. He wanted to draw the man and this planet. The voice was a deep baritone, and Ohno felt a strange calmness wash over him when he heard it.

“Hello, Lord of the times of Gallifrey. Why are you here?”

“I wanted to show a friend of the wonders of Amid. And ask if everything is in order here. Satoshi, may I introduce the lord of the seas of Amid, Aior? Aior this is my human friend Satoshi Ohno. He travels with me for a short time.”

Aior declined his head politely, and Ohno smiled softly and bowed a little.   
“Nice to meet you,” he said carefully and was surprised when Aior repeated his words and looked at Aiba a little bit confused.

“SS Chipmunk translates your words for others, too”, he explained happily, and Ohno nodded thankfully.

“You will see many wonders with the Lord of times named Aiba.”

“Only this one. I will go home afterwards,” Ohno mumbled a little shyly, and Aior laughed before he nodded.

“So you think,” he said and looked at Aiba, “we don’t need your help this day. But we might ask for it another time when we meet again.”

Aiba nodded and stood once more. “I understand. We shall go and leave you in peace then,” he added, and Ohno agreed while he stood up. He nodded at Aior once more and went to the ship. Ohno put his hand on its wall and patted it once. His eyes looked at his hand, and he blinked when he realised he lost his bracelet, Nino had drawn on it once, and it meant a lot to him, somewhere. Ohno sighed deeply since he couldn’t remember when he had lost it and mourned the cute little faces Nino put on it. He felt as if he was missing Nino more and more the longer he was on this ship.

 

“Can we go back?”, he asked hopefully and looked at Aiba. “Just for a short time? I want to ask Nino to come with us?”

“Nino?”

“A friend of mine. He is really important to me,” he mumbled, and Aiba grinned before he nodded.

“The more, the merrier, they say. I can bring us back as I promised.” He looked at his board and began keying in the new location to travel to. Ohno smiled thankfully and leant against the wall. It didn’t take long till they arrived on earth once more and left the ship after he tapped the wall softly once again. He liked how the metal warmed up under his fingertips. It felt like saying ‘I’ll be back soon’.

 

The first thing back on earth that Ohno did was buying a new phone to explain and apologise to Nino. Afterwards, he went to the coffee shop where Nino worked. He was surprised not to see the bratty barista since Aiba promised that he had been away for a few hours only. Nino’s shift shouldn’t have ended yet.

“Eh? Ohno-san?” He heard a familiar voice and smiled at the person that had called him. The other talked to a colleague for a short moment and then came to the front. Ohno’s smile changed to a frown when he realised how mad the other seemed to be.

“Where is Nino? I wanted to talk to him. I lost my phone, and he needs my new number…” he asked a little bit confused, and Yuu furrowed his brow.

“He terminated his contract a few days prior. Where the hell did you go?! You could have come earlier if you lost your phone!”

Ohno blinked confused and took a step back. “What are you talking about?”

“What I’m talking about? How dare you?! You left and didn’t come back for I don’t even know how many months! Nino was heartbroken, and it got so bad that he decided to terminate his contract here and to start anew somewhere else. To be finally able to forget about you. He decided to give up on you and his pining and to be happy once more. And now you are coming back as if nothing had happened at all? I can’t kick you out, but I would suggest you look for another shop to get your daily dose of coffee. You are not welcome here. And I will hurt you if you decide to look for him again only to leave him alone once more.”

Ohno swallowed hard and nodded in understand before he left still very much stunned. What happened? Aiba had promised him that he would be back in time to talk to Nino. And not months later. It did take a few more steps after he was out of the coffee shop for it all to sink in. Aiba had made a mistake. He was sure he could change it again. Ohno ran through the streets to Aiba and the ship. Aiba smiled at him but lost his smile fast when he saw the distressed face.

“What happened? Is Nino mad?” Aiba asked carefully, and Ohno’s eyes blazed with the anger he felt.

“We are late! I am late! He is gone. It’s not only a few hours later it’s over a month later!” He fought his tears but lost shockingly fast. He had lost Nino. He should never have said he would go with Aiba.

“We have to go back,” he begged, and Aiba sighed sadly.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. But it happened. Your lives took different paths now. I can’t change that.”

“That can’t be true,” Ohno whispered and cried more. Aiba pulled him into an embrace and closed his eyes with a painful twinge inside his heart.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”


	6. Chapter 6

Jun observed Nino and his turtle silently. The boy (Jun still couldn’t quite believe that he was an adult) still sat on the floor, and the turtle was on Nino’s lap munching on a salad leaf.

Nino was pale, and Jun was glad that the ship decided to fly a little steadier for him to calm down. Nino played with his phone, and Jun sighed while he observed the sad face. He was not happy that he had to babysit somebody again, but if Nino was here, Jun had to arrange himself with that.

„You aren’t happy,“ Jun stated and sat down next to Nino. He realised that the ship wanted them actually to talk. Otherwise, they would have landed somewhere already.

“Of course not… You abducted me.” Jun rolled his eyes at that.

“Let’s not start this again, okay? I already told you that it’s not like that. And you got your turtle. So you should be happy. And just so you know: I didn’t mean you are unhappy because you are here at the moment, but you were unhappy before you even arrived here. That frown looks as if it is embedded in it.”

Nino shrugged with a sigh before he sat A’tuin on the floor, and the turtle began to look around curiously. “I’m sorry. You are right. And he has a name. Call him by it, please.” Jun nodded mutely and looked at the pet. He would try to remember it.

“What happened?”

“A guy. I met a guy and got his number, but he didn’t answer, and I never saw him again… I mean, it’s fine if he’s not interested. I wouldn’t be happy, yes, but it’s fine. I’m an adult I actually can get over rejection,” he mumbled sadly and bit his lip, hard.

“I see… But then... You can use this as a distraction… How does that sound?”

Nino sighed and smiled a little. “It doesn’t sound that bad to be honest”, he answered slowly and watched him for a moment. “But what about money? Living expenses, food and such things? I have to pay for them, don't I?”

Jun thought about it a little and shook his head. “I have enough money. You don’t have to pay me. Since we brought you here, it would be a rude thing to do.”

Nino looked up surprised and grinned then. That sounded so much better than having to pay for all of this. Like a free vacation and he wasn’t one to say no to such a thing. “Okay… that sounds right then. Can I go back if I want to?”

Jun nodded and ruffled his hair, laughing a little when Nino frowned annoyed. “Of course. Nobody will realise you even left, I promise.”

“That’s good. A new start then,” Nino mumbled feeling happier now since that was what he needed. He relaxed a little more, and Jun stood up once again when he felt that the ship landed somewhere with a soft thud.

 

“We arrived. Want to go have a look?” Jun asked, and Nino rolled his eyes before looking for his turtle.

“You will wait for us, ne?” he asked him and grinned when A'tuin looked at him once before turning around and going wherever he wanted to. He was a little bit worried for him, but he hoped that the ship would look after the turtle. At least a little bit. It was strange to think of the ship as a living thing but as Jun called it a ‘her’ each time he spoke of it and it sounded like a living thing that way.

Jun opened the door for them and stepped out before Nino. He waited for him at the other side of the door and looked expectantly at him before holding out his hand for him. Nino hesitated for a moment nervously but stepped out just a few seconds after while taking the offered hand. 

He looked around curiously – waiting for just the moment he would be dead because of the atmosphere and watched a little annoyed how Jun laughed silently. “Shut up!”

Jun cocked an eyebrow and lifted his hands to calm him down before he nodded in the direction further down. “Let’s have a look.” Feeling secure with Jun’s hand around his Nino wandered around looking at the dark stones that surrounded them and blinked at the beautiful colours he could see. It was stunning; more so when he realised how there seemed to be stars embedded in the stones.

“It looks nice,” he mumbled, and Jun rolled his eyes, again.

“Just nice?” he scoffed, and Nino grinned.

“Yes, nice. Did you want to hear something else?” Nino asked amusedly, and Jun tried to look disinterested at him.

“Of course not. I don’t care if you like it or not.”

"Of course, you don't," he mocked him and turned around but still didn’t let go of Nino’s hand for which he was very thankful.

 

Nino smiled a little while wandering around, and he decided to ignore Jun for a while. He relaxed slowly and was ready to let go of Jun’s hand to look around a bit better. Nino squatted down when he saw a collection of glittering yellow stones. 

Carefully Nino took a small piece and looked at it more closely. It was gorgeous, and he wanted to bring it with him. Nino groaned and played with the stone. He couldn’t decide if it was okay for him to take such a thing. Perhaps he would destroy something significant, but he would love to have a token from his travels. Nino sighed deeply and stood up the stone was in his hand as he approached Jun who studied something on the ground.

“Something wrong?” he asked worried, and Jun looked at him thoughtfully.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “There shouldn’t be anyone here. This planet is inhabited. The first living creatures will find this world in about 246 years.” Nino blinked a little and looked around. Where was the problem? For him, everything seemed to be like Jun said it should; if you didn’t count him and Jun of course.

“Here is nobody but us,” he said slowly, and Jun nodded amusedly.

“I can see that. At least right here is nobody else,” he agreed and pointed at the ground. “But somebody was here and not so long ago.”

Curious as he was Nino went around Jun and squatted down to check what Jun meant. He looked at the footprints that could be seen and blinked surprised when he found a little piece of paper, tucked under a blue stone. 

Nino looked the stone over first and smiled at the soft surface before he curiously opened the sheet. Jun hissed as he saw the drawing and looked at Nino who was thoroughly absorbed in it.

“It’s you,” Jun said slowly, and he hummed a little.

“Yup…” Jun took the drawing slowly and pulled Nino up to look directly into his eyes. His gaze was furious, but Nino felt not a bit scared but still strangely calm.

“Care to explain why?” he hissed, and Nino furrowed his brow.

“Do I look as if I know?” He glared at Jun and took the drawing back. He examined the picture more closely and grinned happily when he saw the signature at the bottom of the page. 

“It’s signed by Ohno!” he exclaimed and looked at the other wide-eyed. “Jun! Oh-chan was here. How is that possible? Where is he now? Can you check?”

Nino looked at Jun with hopeful eyes. Jun’s eyes wandered helplessly from the picture of Nino to the man itself and finally back at his ship.

“There is only the possibility that he travels with someone like me. And I can try to track them, but I can’t promise anything since I don’t know with whom he is travelling and where they are going too. And besides, didn't you want to start over and forget?” he explained carefully.

Nino’s face fell instantly and looked at the picture again. “I see,” he mumbled sadly and closed his eyes. “But you’ll try?”

“You can ask her to help us.”

“I will,” he promised and watched the ship once more. He sighed deeply and remembered the stones. “May I take these with me?” he asked hopefully, and Jun smiled for a short moment.

“I don’t see why not. I have enough space, and it wouldn’t hurt.” Nino grinned and pocketed the stones as well as the drawing.

“Thank you.” He thought of going right back to the ship and to begin searching for Ohno, but Jun tugged him across the mountains to show him a little around.

“We won’t rush anything. That could be dangerous.” Nino agreed slowly and looked around. Jun had promised to help him, and Nino believed that he would do whatever he could to make it possible for Nino and Ohno to meet and talk. Perhaps, Nino thought, that was why the ship got him on board.

 

They entered the ship in the evening after they had watched the stunning sunset. Nino was happy that he got to see that spectacle and was now wandering around the spaceship to search for A’tuin to tell him about everything that he had seen today. 

Jun rolled his eyes as he locked the door after them and went to his control pad where a light was blinking to notify him of a call he had missed earlier. Jun typed in a few numbers, and it didn’t take long before he was face to face of Sho an old acquaintance and his part-time employer. He grinned when he saw the back of Sho’s head and waved at Yuri, their youngest daughter.

“You called?” he said grinning when Sho jerked in surprise and turned around.

“Jun! You surprised me. Why didn’t it ring?” he asked, and Jun shrugged. How should he know?

“Ask your kids. I’m sure they played with it. Why did you call?”

Sho sighed and put Yuri down on the ground. “We will eat later, can you leave me alone for a moment?”

“You are talking about annoying things again?”

“Yup. Boring adult things. So go and play with the others.” He tickled the giggling girl and watched her running away. Jun smiled in amusement and leant back a little. It was always endearing to see Sho with the small ones. When they had met back in school Jun would have never thought that Sho would be able to settle down so easily. He always had imagined that Aiba was more of a staying at home dad. But things could change fast.

“I want to write a new book. Would you be so kind to do the coverage for me?” Sho asked hopefully, and Jun agreed softly. Sometimes he interviewed famous persons for Sho or looked over historical events so that he could have a first-hand impression on them. Jun had long given up to tell Sho to ask his husband instead. But since he had accompanied the man once and it was a total disaster, Jun could understand why Sho wouldn’t do that. 

Jun shuddered at the thought of the chaos Aiba brought over them and shook his head to dislodge this memory. Sho told him about his plans and the things Jun should cover, and Jun wrote down the essential points.

“I will do it for you. But I have a traveller with me whom I promised to help first. So it could take a little time,” he said, and Sho nodded a bit surprised.

“You do?”

“Yes. So your job will come after I helped Nino.”

“I understand. Do your best, Jun. I have to end the call. Yuri should eat dinner and go to bed afterwards.”

“I see. Good night, Sho. See you soon.”

Sho laughed at that and nodded. He was sure that it would be less time for him compared to Jun.


	7. Chapter 7

Ohno stood silently at the edge of a dark red mountain. He looked downward deep in thought. He had agreed with Aiba to follow him around and to experience all the adventures that the other promised him. 

He felt hollow inside since he had realised how much time had passed on earth since he was gone. It had hurt a lot not to be able to make things better to explain himself to Nino. But Nino didn’t seem to be found anywhere. He rubbed his face tiredly and stepped finally back. Ohno turned around and saw Aiba watching him with a worried frown on his face. 

“I was worried you would jump,” the man explained softly, and Ohno almost laughed. He would never end his life like that. 

“No, don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to bring sadness over more persons. Nino had been more than enough,” he explained and tilted his head to one side lost in thought. 

“I will help you whenever you need it,” he promised then, and Aiba grinned at him brightly. Those words made him happy of course. 

“We will have much fun together,” Aiba promised and made Ohno laugh at his happy face. 

“What is this place though?” Ohno asked curiously and turned around once. He let his eyes wander around the place they were in. Their surrounding was bare, and it shimmered in different hues of red. There was a waterfall thundering down the edge of the mountain where he had stood earlier. The water was a beautiful purple and Ohno couldn’t help himself but look there again and again. He wished he could take photographs of all the beauty he had seen in the last few days.

“We are on Sontardos,” Aiba mumbled and followed him closer to the edge to look at the water. “I don’t know why we ended up here though. I was sure that I put in the coordinates for the market square, not here…” It was a beautiful place Aiba supposed and a calming one at that, but he had wanted to show Ohno the bustling space of the daily market down here. 

 

He put a hand through his hair when Ohno looked at him from the side with a wry grin. “You are not exactly great at steering this thing are you?” he asked, and Aiba adverted his gaze a bit flustered. 

“First of all: It’s not a thing. So please don’t say that. Our spaceships… How do I explain? They are not exactly living things. But they have a soul and a heart. They choose us as much as we choose them. Chipmunk SS came to me through Sho-chan. He inherited it but gave up on using it when we married. Sho never was a fan of flying from the start. He has a severe fear of heights.”

“But you call it 'it'?”

“Yeah, I’m bad with such things. Just, please… Don’t see it as a thing. It’s precious to us.”

“Okay,” Ohno said slowly and looked back at the ship that looked like a small pile of stones. “One more question is allowed?”

“As many as you like, don’t worry. I try to answer the best I can!”

“Thanks. How does it change? When we met it looked like a big tree in the middle of the park; now it looks just like the stones surrounding it. And how do you manage not to lose it?”

“Oh, it’s made to imitate its surroundings so that nobody will recognise it and blur in with the surroundings. If… Let’s say if it’s like the spaceship you use to know from all the movies and it always looks like that, and we travel through the time way back into the past to the Edo period we would change history. Because spaceships or pictures of spaceships never existed at that time. That’s also why we should be low-profile as to not get into any trouble.”

Ohno grinned at those words but nodded silently. It made sense after all. “You are not exactly good at keeping a low-profile though. Aior knew you, and I’m sure we scared the person back in my hometown to death with the _rokubi_ you chased.”

“Oh well, I can’t help myself. Just watching and not helping people if I could help them doesn’t sit right with me. Because of that, I’m kind of an outsider at Gallifrey. Normally we are there to observe not to interfere.”

“I think helping others isn’t a bad thing, though,” Ohno mumbled lost in thought. He as well wouldn’t be able to look at when people died. 

“I’m glad you think so. Sho-chan thinks so as well. So he is on my side and in the moment I kind of work for the intergalactic police force,” Aiba said proudly making Ohno gasp and look at him with wide eyes. 

“There is something like that?”

“Of course. How else do you think everything is kept in order? We have intergalactic trades and travel routes. Therefore some people have to overlook everything. It has to be fair after all. And we have to make sure that nobody goes off on a killing spree. Some species are more of fighters and others that aren’t. We don’t want slavery or something as well,” Aiba said with a sad frown on his face. 

Ohno wanted to ask. He did, but at the same time, he was scared of the things that Aiba might have witnessed. He didn’t believe that everything was as peaceful as Aiba described it here. 

Then Ohno remembered the _rokubi_ that came to Earth and was about to feast on that poor man if Aiba wouldn’t have intervened. That probably would happen more often if there weren’t anybody to protect them from alien forces. 

And now he had promised to help Aiba on his quests. He probably should be more scared now, but he was also very excited. 

 

“We should visit the market you talked about earlier,” Ohno said after a few minutes. “Do you think I could get some pens and paper to draw? I want to make pictures of the wonders we see. But getting to my house to get my camera seems to be not the brightest idea. Especially now that you explained that we have to be careful not to change history in any way.” Ohno wasn’t yet so sure that they would be able to do that since he thought tampering with the surroundings happened already the moment they stepped out of Aiba’s ship. But they probably could keep it to a minimum. And drawing was something that people did for as long as Ohno can think off. 

At least Ohno had never heard anything about a not drawing tribe in history class. So he probably was very safe. 

“Sounds good. We can do that, and you have to try their fruits. They look like small berries and are very sweet. Just delicious,” Aiba said happily and grabbed Ohno’s hand to led him through the mountains down until they reached the first houses. 

“Is it okay to let the Chipmunk on top?” Ohno asked worriedly. He felt already tired with the thought of climbing the mountain back up to get to it. He thought it might have been easier for them to bring it down with them and not leave it there. 

“It will find me when I need it. Don’t worry. It will be down here when we want to get back.”

“How will you find it then?”

“Good that you remind me, one moment,” Aiba mumbled and patted his pockets until he found a small black key. He searched for a bit longer until a second one was be found. He put one of them into Ohno’s palm and smiled. “It will get warm when we are close or light up a bit. The door will appear when you come closer and open if it detects the key. We should look for a necklace so that you can keep it around your neck without problems.”

Ohno blinked for a moment and observed the small key in his hand. It looked like a regular key you would use for your home and somehow Ohno was a little disappointed. He thought that it would be something special. But, oh well, at least it wouldn’t get too much attention that way.

Ohno put the key in his pocket and followed Masaki until they reached the big square in the middle of the small town. A smile appeared on his face as he watched the bustling people around him and inhaled the different smells that lingered in the air. Careful as to not lose Aiba in this mass of people Ohno followed him from stall to stall and tried the various foodstuff Aiba bought for them. It was completely different from everything he had known. Ohno thought it was very much fun though. 

“We can get your drawing materials there,” Aiba pointed at a stall and Ohno followed eagerly. He greeted the man on the other side of the booth and looked through the materials. Sadly, Ohno had to realise that they were entirely different for the things he knew. He sighed a little, and a deep frown could be seen on his face. 

“Is there anything wrong?” the man asked, and Ohno looked a bit helplessly at Aiba. He didn’t know how much he was allowed to say. 

“It’s our first time here, and my friend here wanted to have some drawing materials. But they look different from what he is used to,” Aiba explained easily and shrugged a little. Ohno realised that even if Aiba fully supported his wish, he probably didn’t care so much about art materials as well. 

“Oh, no problem at all. Come over here I will show you,” he explained, and Ohno readily did as he was told. He was given the thick piece of paper and frowned. It was slightly bumpy to the touch, but it felt comfortable in his hands. He had been worried that it was heavy. 

“You draw with these.” The other showed him how to put the patch with the small tip on his finger and moved the finger around a little. It was light and felt as if nothing was there. But it was utterly different than holding a pen. 

“You change the colour here on that pad and move the tip over the paper. It’s just as if you would draw with your fingertip. When the picture is finished, you push this button, and it will be saved on the pad. You can print it if you want.”

Ohno blinked surprised and nodded slowly. He had to get used to it a little bit before he would be able to use it though. 

“Sounds good. Thank you,” he said with a smile and bowed when Aiba thanked the man as well and paid without another word for the materials. 

“Is that enough?” Aiba asked when they left the stall and Ohno shrugged. He had to get used to this, but it was practical he thought. Still, if he would be able to find some papers and charcoal he would buy them as well, he decided silently. 

“Let’s head back to the Chipmunk,” Aiba said after a moment, and Ohno agreed after a moment. He was tired after all that walking, and he wanted to try this drawing pad. 

“Can we print all the pictures?” he asked after a moment. He wanted to be able to hold them in his hands at least. 

“Yep, no problem. We can also look for things you are more used to as well. I’ll ask Sho-chan if he can send us some.”

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I need help: I want to continue this story. But I would be thankful for all ideas of what could happen. Or if you can think of any planets, species they could meet, or times (past and future) they could visit with any problems that could arise. Just a few pointers if you can think of anything I would be forever thankful to you.   
> I also hope this was okay and that you had at least a bit of fun reading it.


End file.
